Feeler tool for casing protuberances



March 25, 1952 E. L. CON DRA I FEELER TOOL FOR CASING PROTUBERANCES Filed Feb. 5, 1949 0 1 5770)?! [1440A awn UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FEELER TOOL FOR CASING PROTUBERANCES Elmo L. Condra, Long Beach, Calif.

Application February 5, 1949, SegjalNo. 74,75};

(09min 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a tool, which may be run into an oil well, and particularly in the casing of the oil well, to determine the presence and depth of any protuberances that might be in the casing. In modern oil well practice it is customary to perforate the casing by shooting bullets through this casing. These bullets frequently become stuck in the wall of the casing and project inwardly, thus presenting projections or obstacles which are unsatisfactory to the proper operation of the well.

An object of my invention is to provide a feeler tool, which may be lowered into the casing of an oil well to determine whether there are any protuberances within the casing and if so to determine the depth at which these protuberances occur.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel feeler tool of the character stated, which will indicate by the feel of the lowering or raising tool, and also by the condition of the feeler plates, whether there are protuberances in the casing.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel feeler tool of the character stated, which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and easy to operate in the oil well.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detailed description and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my feeler tool.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Before running a clean out tool in an oil well, it is desirable to determine if it is necessary to run such a tool. A clean out tool to remove protuberances in an oil well may be of the type shown in my co-pending application, Serial No. 31,317, filed June 5, 1948 and entitled: Wire Line Clean Out Tool for Oil Wells, Patent 2,552,939 granted May 15, 1951.

My feeler tool comprises a mandrel I, which is counter-bored, as shown at 2, to provide a 1ongitudinal passage extending partway through this tool. The bottom of the bore opens through the bottom of the tool and a plurality of ports 8 extend through the wall of the tool and into the bore, thus permitting fluid to circulate longitudinally through the tool for a purpose to be subsequently described.

A threaded pin 4 on the upper end of the mandrel enables this tool to be attached to a socket 5, or some other suitable coupling means. The socket 5 may be a wire line socket, thus enabling the tool to be operated on a cable or wire line 6.

A shoulder l is formed adjacent the lower end of the mandrel l and a feeler plate or disc 8 rests on this shoulder. A sleeve 9 surrounds the mandrel I and rests on the plate 8 for the purpose of holding this plate in position. A second plate l0 rests on top of the sleeve 9 and a nut ll screws on to the mandrel and against the top plate l0, thus holding the two plates and sleeve 9 in assembled position.

It is to be noted that the two plates 8 and H) are materially greater in diameter than the mandrel l and, further, the peripheries of the plates 8 and [0 lie close to the wall of the oil well casing I2, consequently any inwardly projecting protuberances of the casing l2 will engage either or both of the plates 8 and I0 and the presence of these protuberances will be indicated by a jerk in the wire line 6. Furthermore, when the tool is returned to the surface, if the plates 8 and ID are bent, it will indicate that protuberances are present in the casing. The depth of the tool can be readily determined and, consequently, the tool can be run in the well to clean out any protuberances in the casing.

As my feeler tool is being moved upwardly and downwardly in the well, the fluid in the well must move past the plates 8 and ID in order that the tool may move freely and for this purpose I have provided the bore 2 and the ports 3.

The plates 8 and ID are formed of a material which might be called malleable that is, of a material which will readily bend and will retain its deformed position rather than spring back to its original disk-like form, as would be the case if the metal were tempered.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A feeler tool comprising a mandrel, coupling means on the upper end of said mandrel, a shoulder on the lower end of said mandrel, a plate resting on said shoulder, a sleeve surrounding the mandrel and bearing against said plate, a second plate resting on said sleeve, a nut threaded on said mandrel and bearing against the second plate, each of said plates being materially greater in diameter than the mandrel, said mandrel having a longitudinally extending bore therein, and having lateral openings in the wall thereof extending to the bore, said openings being positioned above the upper plate.

2. A feeler tool comprising an upright cylin- 3 drical mandrel, a pair of spaced disks fixedly mounted on said mandrel in spaced relation to each other, said disks being bendable and flat and capable of retaining a deformed condition, said disks each being materially greater in diameter than the mandrel, means removably securing each of said disks to the mandrel, said mandrel having a vertical bore therein extending from the bottom thereof to above the uppermost disk, and said mandrel having a port extending through the wall of the mandrel and communicating with said bore, said port being above the uppermost disk. I

EIMO L. CONDRA.

4 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date vi 51,362 Spiegle Dec. 5, 1865 J 953,666 glee Mar. 29, 1910' 1,460,436 Nichols July 3, 1923 10 2,326,528 Festervan'et a1. Aug. 10, 1943 2,347,746 McWilliams May 2, 1944 2,377,501 Kinley June 5, 1945 2,379,138 Fitting et a1. June 26, 1945 2,392,144 Hall Jan. 1, 1946 15 2,517,603 W'Silverman Aug. 8, 1950 

